Industry Voices: Fashion's Future
America’s recent fashion history has seen a relentless tilt to the west—of people, ideas, commerce and even trend power. New York and Los Angeles are the twin poles of U.S. fashion, but they are very different ones. For most of the last 20 years, Los Angeles has been the brainier, sexier, trendier of the two: its entrepreneurs and its innovations, its fads and foibles, its marvelous clutter of jeans, activewear, swimwear, surfwear, jeans, etc. have spread around the world. New York, still the bastion and darling of the fashion press, has trailed behind in the world of innovation; its clicheacute; has been a conservative applause to the same small group of “elite” names. But twins can change places. Is that happening now?
It is easy to find evidence that California style is in a funk. The banks have stopped funding creativity; they certainly are not taking any chances in this squirrelly economy—and the buyers, from the large retailers and specialty-store chains alike, cannot afford to place their bets with new resources that might not be able to deliver when promised. The retailers’ lines of credit depend on on-time delivery, complete, saleable damage-free shipments, with accurate documents now demanded by technical and governmental requirements.
Back in the golden age of the 1960s and ’70s, our community offered those “up-and-comers” a shot at the American dream—not just for the mouthy high-fliers who gave great parties. There was a complete cross section of an industry cluster—with an enviable infrastructure. These days, more than 87 percent of the $39 billion shipped in apparel and textile finished products is made elsewhere. Every year, more companies leave the business than enter it.
Not only that, for each of the past four years, most analysts and poll-takers rank Los Angeles and California the very worst region in which to do business. Add to that, a very laissez-faire attitude toward the industry by our public officials and our uuml;ber-industry groups, with no concern for the overriding issues that affect our business and the 100,000 plus people employed in it.
By contrast, New York’s legislators understand the importance of their fashion industry and have tried to revive the trend of encroaching real estate in their once-flourishing “garment district.” A valiant effort is underway; we’ll see how it plays out.
Meanwhile, it has never paid to bet against an industry with as many inventive people as we have here. Even if California is in the dumps, it still boasts an unequalled array of sunrise start-ups, and the most agile venture-capital entrepreneurs on the fashion planet. Our technology providers are telling us that they are (strangely) seeing more and more start-ups—with more creative products and more original ideas. Additionally, the smart business operators are examining the way they do business; being much more price conscious, cross-training their personnel, analyzing every SKU, investing in technology, etc. The businesses surviving during these economic tough times will only emerge stronger and leaner, with more exciting product.
The California fashion industry has an awesome ability to reinvent itself—as it did when everything stopped right after 9/11.
Perhaps this new “crisis” brought about by the troubled assets of our largest lender will promote what the politicians call “structural reform.” The truth is that we can learn from other apparel-production centers and other business models. There is no perfect model; it is our genius to have 7,000 companies competing to find out what works best. The relentless competition of clever new firms from San Diego to San Francisco will pull our West Coast fashion industry out of its current gloom. All the world still wants the “California look”—whatever that is!
Ilse Metchek is the president of the California Fashion Association. She created the organization in 1994 with assistance from the major financial and manufacturing participants of the region’s apparel industry. The CFA provides leaders of Southern California’s manufacturing and textile community with the opportunity to share information about the business of conducting business in the current global economy.
Prior to the formation of the CFA, Ms. Metchek had been executive director of the California Mart (now called the California Market Center) and president of White Stag Inc., a division of Warnaco Industries. As a designer and merchandiser, she worked for the Anjac Fashion Corp. for 17 years, purchasing the company in 1984 and changing its name to Ilse M.
Ms. Metchek’s public service includes participation on the executive board of the California Fashion Foundation and the advisory council of UCLA Extension and serving as a member of the board of directors of the Fashion Industries Guild of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was honored as the “Person of the Year” at the 2001 annual gala event. She has been a member of the Exporters Textile Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Commerce since 2001.
